On the surface of Quakemortal, all the watch patrols had gathered in one tower to watch the approaching shape. It had looked like a walking tree from a distance, but the closer it came, the bigger and longer it looked.
The creature, a colossal emerald stick now seen to be far taller than the nearby trees, turned its segmented neck to the fortress, and with a single bound, was inside the walls. The startled livestock, including one reindeer and a gibbon, bolted away in a convincing display of self-preservation.
Impersonat felt a certain awe for the insectoid creature as it terrorized the animals when one of the recruits waved their hand in front of her face and asked her, "What should we do?"
She blinked. "Damn," she replied. She tried to think quickly. "Ah, you two stay here. The rest of us, cross to the northeast tower. We can try to distract it until..."
"Until?
"Never mind," she finished, pointing.
"They killed it!" The recruits cheered. Someone said, "I wonder what it tastes like?" Down below, a soldier pulled his sword from the giant bug's neck and waved at the archers.
Impersonat squinted. There was something about that Swordsdwarf's walk that was awfully familiar.
* * *
It was Timber 4th: Sethrist and Rimtar were having their usual afternoon beer together, discussing matters of the fort while they prepared for the festivities of Barony Day. The lack of usual production would mean tying together the last few loose ends before the parties were underway.
"SalmonGod's squad needs a new leader," Rimtar recited from a stack of papers strewn across the table. "A young soldier named Impersonat is the second most senior marksdwarf, so I'm sending Derm the paperwork for her promotion."
"All right, then. How's Derm doing?"
"Amazingly well. Confident. His dwarves brought him a large pile of bolts and a crossbow and set up an archery target across from his bed, but I understand the Doctor threatened to tie him up if he fired it, so there's been an uneasy standoff."
"That must have been fun to witness."
"When I got there, Zaroz was tearing the target down and the Commander was aiming at him and yelling. We might need a new wall to separate them." She turned one of her lists to the other side. "I've assigned some of the new migrants to take care of ballista bolts," she said with a swig of her mug. "Broccoli's spending a month or two in combat training, so we're down some armor and a war hammer."
"No worries," Sethrist said, sinking back in his chair. "We could use some more competent fighters. Anyway, the Chief Smiths are putting out more everyday."
Rimtar examined the papers before her. "Derm commands thirty dwarves, counting the crossbow team and the new squad of recruits. Chief Kzel has them practicing with whips, he insists it'll one day be worth it. Oh, and Captain Worldlenses finished assembling the Fortress Guard, so that makes forty dwarves in full-time military service."
It's not enough, Sethrist thought. He'd specifically sought the assistance of Captain Worldlenses in a letter to the Mountainhome; an experienced war veteran and the most renowned Hammerdwarf in all the Lanterns of Hale, she brought many elite soldiers with her. She'd been briefed on the true mission of Quakemortal, and was bearing the ceremonial adamantine hammer with pride.
'One needs not might to quell the darkness,' she'd said with a loving gaze at her glowing hammer. 'Only light.'
Rimtar was staring at him. "You look tired."
"Tired is too small a word." He rubbed his face. "Sorry. Where were we?"
"The military."
"Right."
"We're stepping up armor production. One of our newer smiths has earned access to the truemetal. Have you seen Udib's latest work?"
"Yes! Aramco was telling me, she's thrilled with him. He's her star pupil, you know."
"Indeed. He's getting new quarters near the forges so she can work without interruption." She tapped the desk with her thumb.
"Anything else?"
"Forget about it." Rimtar waved her hand, then downed the rest of her beer. "We'll get to it on the Sixth. You need sleep, and I need to sign off these work orders before getting so drunk that the fort spins."
At the hospital, Derm was near sleep. The day had been a long one. No matter how sturdy a crutch he tried out, the thing would creak and bend or break as soon as his full weight went on it. Guildmaster Duck had promised to keep trying, and Derm would as well on his end, but the first thing first was sleep. But then, as relaxation took hold, his quieting mind was startled by a gruesome call from the dark.
Hello, Derm, the voice said.
Feeling better yet?Derm opened his eyes and reached out to the table for his axe, at the same time grabbing the crossbow kept under us pillow, and scanned the dark for something to shoot at. "I don't want your help, or anything to do with it."
I know that, the voice said.
So proud you must feel."So then why do you bother me?" Derm checked to ascertain that the crossbow was loaded.
Simply to honor my commitment, the voice said.
It has been six months."I haven't kept track."
I thought you would like to know that I found someone else. Someone willing to listen, and willing to help. And they were helpful.Derm could feel the demon's unseen smile.
He gave in to alarm. "What are you saying?" As if the voice had descended onto him, he heard the voice, a whisper just next to his ear.
We are coming.No, Derm thought.
We shall meet again soon, my dear dwarf! But first is the feast! The voice cackled and faded.
The guards at the gate were unprepared for its opening. As far as they knew, it wasn't even supposed to be attached to any opening mechanism. Most of them knew not what lay beyond, only that it was dangerous.
Zuntir the Axedwarf took an uneasy step toward the aperture. A glittering wall lay beyond, with a small patch of cave moss over on the left. A strange mist was seen inside, but no sign of anything living.
A plume of ashes swept out from the cavern. The other awestruck guards watched as it wrapped around the dwarf's body and contracted, cracking the bones beneath his steel armor. The gleaming bluish axe he had carried fell down to be swept up by another cloud of ash, which rose up to envelop Zuntir's leg and brought him into the ground with a crushing impact.
The demons emerged. Three great winged and spidery forms of the same foul ash flew into the fort, piling upon the axedwarf to pierce him with daggerlike mouths. Droplets of blood flowed up to bestow on the monsters an unnatural crimson hue. The mist from beyond condensed into skulled and shifting shapes, hissing and spitting with menace.
The dwarves fell into panic, unsure of how to fight creatures such as these. The fiends of ash flew up from Zuntir's corpse and swooped down on the line of them. The ghostly mist thickened and filled their lungs, choking out the air. A recruit was swept off his feet and thrown into the ravening pile of monstrous hunger.
And then, as terror threatened to claim them all, a snarling shape came from the top of the stair and made a leap for the swarm. It was Catten, SalmonGod's former war leopard, and as it pounced atop the buzzing, feeding mass, its claws raked through one of the beast's flapping wings, which broke and crumbled to scattering dust in the air.
"They are vulnerable!" someone shouted. And with this realization, the dwarves gave a collective howl and fought with renewed vigor. Battled screams and inhuman wails echoed up the central stairwell. More and more dwarves entered the fray, joined by further abominations from the depths. The civilians nearby ran in every direction.
The hall became a frenzied cloud of bloody ashes and mist. Sethrist appeared at the top of the stairs, and with abandon, hurled himself into the brawl, waiving Kzel's spear like a glaive through the phantasmal forms all around.
Within moments, the carnage was unspeakable. Broken, dirtied corpses cluttered the hallway, skins stained with blackened blood. The air had settled, the mist having dropped as pools of water that rippled ominously on the floor, a coating of soot over all in sight. A confused looking group of dwarves stood at the end of the hall, waiting in wonder.
Sethrist pointed at one of the recruits. "Find the Chief Engineer and get this gate closed." To a nearby axedwarf, he said, "You, stay with me. We have to prevent--"
He was cut off by a long, hollow cackling that came through the corridor. A long tendril of emerald slime, noxious and vile, slinged from the opening and clamped around a by-standing jeweler's neck. The dwarf let out a gurgled shriek as the abhorrent tentacle pulled back and yanked him into the air and through the gate.
"Hold on!" Sethrist shouted. "Stay here!" he said to the soldiers behind him, and without another word, proceeded through the gate.
The cavern was warm and humid, like the swamp above the surface, but with a thicker heat that permeated the cave's lustrous walls. There was no sign of the jeweler, but there was one place Sethrist knew where to look, a place he had ever dreaded coming back to. There, on the ground before that great yawning pit, lay the bruised body of the jeweler in a wide and bloody pool. Floating above his body sat a curvaceous woman upon the draconian wings coming out of her back.
Sethrist readied his weapon. "You'll pay for this," he said.
"A pleasure to meet you, Sethrist," said the demon. "I'm Ethbeshzalìs."
Sethrist sprinted toward her. The ground around his feet bubbled and frothed with that sickening slime and glued to his feet. He struggled to move his legs, but the slime refused to yield.
"I knew you'd take the bait," the demon said. She lowered herself to the ground and slowly walked toward him. Sethtrist moved to throw the spear, but another blob of slime rose up and snatched the weapon from his grasp.
"I'm going to take you home, Seth," Ethbeshzalis said. "Everyone's waiting for you."
There were footsteps behind them. A wall of slime rose up around them, only to be broken through by a dwarf in full adamantine armor, wielding a glittering truemetal hammer. The demon squalled out as the dwarf stood up and drove the spike of the hammer into the closest wing, sending a green-lined fracture running across it.
Enraged curses flickered and bounced against the stony walls. A stream of goo waved up from the floor and spun the two dwarves off their feet. The demon laughed and glided into the air above the pit, falling backwards in a graceful dive. Trails of slime bled out of her fractured wing as she flew down the pit, cackling with insane glee the entire way down.
"Overseer!" The Captain of the Guard was tugging at Sethrist's shoulders. "They're going to close the gate any second now. We have to escape while we can!"
Sethrist stared at the jeweler's trodden form. Even if he lived, the life would be an agony. One mangled wrist pointed toward the pit, that seemed to call out with its openness.
Don't look in, thought Sethrist, remembering the eye.
Don't look in.Angry, monstrous bellows could be heard in the distance. "Now, Overseer!" said the guard captain. "Before more of them come!"
"Agreed," Sethrist said, returning his mind to the fort. They hurried back to the gate and waited there until it closed. "Stay here until I say so," he said to the guards. "No one but Chief Dariush is to get anywhere near it."
"I give you my oath," said the captain, "I'm going to find those responsible."
Sethrist gave a long look at the surrounding heap of bodies awaiting burial. "Please do," he said, closing his eyes.
Down in the deep of the pit, Ethbeshzalìs fell into the lava, allowed her body to drop into her churning, acid form and flowed into the magma. She trickled through the molten rock, pouring through the microscopic pores until she reached an open fiery cavern on the other side deep beneath the earth. There, beyond the exposed wall of a mined out adamantine vein, was the magma foundry these dwarves had built, and the path to freedom.
* * *
Aramco was pacing her quarters, where she and another metalsmith had been confined by the Fortress Guard. "What do you mean, 'stay inside?" she demanded at a bleary-eyed axedwarf who looked like the fight had about left him.
"There are monsters about," the axedwarf said. "It's much safer in here out of the way."
"Just let me go get my armor. I'll bring you some!"
"Miss, the soldiers need to do their jobs," the soldier said impatiently. "We can't be worried about civilians in the halls when there's fighting to do."
The walls behind him started to bubble with green droplets. The smell of rancid cheese filled up the place.
"Yes," Aramco said. She inched away, her eyes as wide as open coffins. "I, um, I have to go now."
The soldier pointed his finger. "It's just for a little while longer. Once everyone is safe --"
"Behind you!" Aramco shrieked. A sinister face had appeared in the goo on the wall to glare at the guard.
"Oh no you don't," the axedwarf said. "I'm not falling for tha-"
The door to Aramco's cellar burst open. Dragging itself into the room came a great burbling blob of green viscosity, two slithering coils scraping across the walls as with a gravity their own. The center of the protoplasmic mass enfolded over the axedwarf, swathing him completely in the soupy, swirling bile from which staring, hateful eyes would emerge, blinking and fixing on Aramco.
Aramco shrieked, and shoving the other metalworker aside, ran in terror from the room. She screamed incomprehensibly through the halls.
Why my quarters? she thought.
Why did it have to be my quarters?The metalworker looked from the ground, frozen with fear. The axedwarf was being twisted and folded in unnatural ways by the insistent slime. A pool of it moved its way into his mouth, and he screamed in muffled revulsion. More and more of it flowed in until it was leaking from his ears and nose, until the dwarf's very skull cracked under the building pressure and fell apart.
The quivering metalsmith slowly crawled toward the door. From beneath her, the slime lifted up, carrying her swiftly up to the ceiling and smearing her there. Drops of her dribbled from the walls.
Aramco had been hard to understand through her sobs, but Sethrist eventually made out that a demon had captured her quarters. He gave word to the Fortress Guard to meet him there, proceeded down as fast as he could.
He arrived at the door clutching his spear in one closed, adamantine-covered fist. He dared not enter without backup, but whatever was in there would have to be stopped if it tried to escape. The consequences of a demon infiltrating the fort would be dire indeed.
A pair of green eyes grew forth from the diorite stone of the door. A girlish voice sang into the Overseer's mind.
Greetings, Seth. Have you come back for more?"You won't escape," Sethrist said. "The guards are on their way. You'll soon be surrounded."
Surrounded? I think not. Think carefully before you open this door. Haven't enough of you died today?The first of the guards were arriving. Seth motioned towards a recruit. "Send word to the masons," he said. "Tell them we need to wall off this part of the fort."
The recruit stared nervously at the baleful door, which now sported a toothy grin.
"Now," Sethrist said.
The door became normal again, and hollow laughter filled the halls of marble.
* * *
What was planned to be a day of fun and wine had turned into one of grief and rebuilding. Rimtar was in the hospital with a scroll, trying to listen to what Zaroz was telling her, but her thoughts kept returning to the shameful list of the dead waiting on her desk that morning.
"I'm going to need better facilities than this!" Zaroz said, hands wringing.
"You'll get them," Rimtar said, making a note.
"Look at this. How am I supposed to treat all these people myself?"
"You aren't." Rimtar pried a sheet of parchment from the roll and handed it to him. "You're getting some nursing staff."
Zaroz looked at the list sceptically. "Are they any good?"
"The best we have." Rimtar said. "From now on I need you to maintain a full-time health care management team. They are to live and work here at all times. I don't want any dwarf to die who might have lived. Is that understood, Doctor?"
"Don't blame me for anyone dying," Zaroz said. "Now, I need to get back to work." He picked up a few rolls of clean cloth, turning his back to her.
-----
Your disembodied consciousness has achieved a sort of oneness with this individual. You find yourself able to experience his experiences as if they were your own while retaining your sense of identity - along for the ride, in a sense. You feel that, if you tried, you could perhaps push this person's own mind away from his body, and you would have complete control over it. However, you also feel that doing this would almost certainly be, in a sense, killing them. What do you do?
That's all I can get through for now. Rest assured, the fort is safe, for now. The demon seems content to relax in her new house with the doors forbidden. I should be able to work on this again in a few days, and next time I'll aim for the perspectives of characters that haven't had enough time onstage. Thanks again to you each for participating so far! I look forward to your posts. That last Carpenter's Log was hilarious ^_^
yey wew
also is my character in the story yet or are u waiting for more character development on my part? if so i'll try to write something later on in the day because i gotta practise my english skill alittle more. hopefully i'll be able to write a story thats comprehensable to normal readers
Sammy will soon have an appearance in the story. If you like what I PMed you, I'd be happy to help with your editing however I can.
SethCreiyd, your storytelling rocks so much 
Have you read The Dresden Files, by the way? The last update certainly reminds me of a certain female demon who could only exist in real world as a piece of her real self, the rest being sealed away, and who helped to heal a permanent crippling
Also, your storytelling is awesome. 
Thanks Dariush
I haven't read the Dresden Files, but I did look it up, and it looks pretty interesting. Ethbesh's description screen describes her as "a towering blob composed of vomit' with wings and I pictured this shape-shifting shoggoth type of demoness. The demons have specific attributes for their personalities in the world.dat raw files, which may give a little insight into how they might think.
Seth: Amazing storytelling! Keep up the good work. Also: I'm pretty much just making shit up as I go along. I'm not sure whether you have anything planned for this but I thought you might want to know that I sure don't.
Thank you! I will try. I am planning a bit in regard to some character development and story arcs, but there's only so much that's predictable. Feel free to play as you go, however you like. As for Chief Broccoli, I expect there will soon be consequences for his cavorting with demons so freely.
I'm sorry if this bit was quite graphic, but I'm pretty sure that's how it would have looked to the dwarves.
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Topic: Quakemortal: Perdition's Gate (Community Fort, Spoilers) (Read 53844 times)